Get Stuffed

An old friend gets a new look

I truly think we offer the best cuisine in the village. The attention to detail that myself and the staff pay to our sauces and seasonings is unsurpassable
"  Shane Robilliard.

Locals approval spreading like Wildflower

When a friend gets a facelift, or a modern new look, its only natural to want to check it out, and that seems to be the case with one of Whistlers favourite fine dining restaurants, The Wildflower.

The Fairmont Chateau Whistlers main dining attraction has been noticing a lot of local faces at the tables of late, eager to check out the $1.5 million worth of changes.

The restaurant at the base of Blackcomb mountain, well known for its sumptuous buffets in the past, has now gone almost entirely a-la-carte. With an exciting new menu, a new private wine tasting room, a new friendly bar, a gorgeous décor overhaul and just two signature buffets kept behind for good business, its definitely a place that gourmet food fanatics are lining up to rediscover.

"As soon as you walk in you can see the atmosphere has really evolved," said the Wildflowers assistant food and beverage director, Caroline Heaney. "Its taken four years to complete our overall design. We changed things little by little to cause the least disruption to our guests, and the results are something were all very excited about."

On initial inspection, the biggest difference is the removal of the all-pervading central buffet station.

"We removed it entirely from the centre of the room because we didnt want it to be the first thing people noticed," said Wildflower assistant manager, Stephanie Packwood. "Dining tastes have shifted and we want to be a truly fine dining atmosphere, so that was the first thing that had to go."

Next up, youll notice the cherry wood cocktail bar where an apres perfect "pull up a pew" casual code of behaviour is warmly encouraged.

Follow your sight line along the left hand wall and youll come to a larger than life floor-to-ceiling mural of the majestic mountains all around. Look up at the ceiling and youll see an abundance of eye-catching chandeliers that look slightly Northwest native in design, with a green alpine forest acrylic trim. Both these unusual additions were created by Salt Spring Island artist, Lore Schmidt.

The room feels formal, yet comfortable  a feat not many fine dining denizens seem to be able to perfect.

"The lighting has a lot to do with that," said Packwood. "Before the renovations the restaurant was so bright so you could see the buffet, but weve toned it right down to give each table its own warm and intimate touch."